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Cash and Credit Registers

NCR Mechanical Cash Registers & Cash Register Mechanisms

From the 1890s through at least the introduction of electronic cash registers, National Cash Register Company dominated American sales of cash registers. The Ohio-based company had substantial foreign sales as well. It produced a wide range of products, tailored to suit the tastes and budgets of stores that differed widely in clientele. The firm expanded over the years to produce bookkeeping machines, adding machines, and electronic computers.

After the Civil War, as American cities and businesses grew, business owners increasingly hired strangers to assist customers. At the time, it was all too easy for clerks and barkeepers to keep part of the money they received. The cash register, invented by the Ritty brothers of Dayton, Ohio, had a large display to indicate the sums customers paid. It also had a locked compartment that tallied total receipts. This is the Rittys' first machine, or an early replica of it. It was the basis for a commercial product called "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier."

By 1884 the Rittys were out of business, but their patents were purchased by the National Cash Register Company. NCR made and sold much improved cash registers. By 1904, they were ready to convey the history of their company by showing this model at the St. Louis World's Fair. NCR went on to successfully make not only cash registers and accounting machines but electronic computers.

This large, nickel-plated, manually operated cash register is an NCR Model 79. It has three columns of keys for entering numbers, and a fourth column of function keys. The operating crank is on the right side, the cash drawer is below, and a receipt dispenser on the left side. Pop-up indicators above the keys indicate the total purchase. The Model 79 was introduced by NCR in 1892, this example dates from 1894. Principles introduced with this cash register would prove important on numerous later NCR cash registers. For a model of part of the mechanism of this machine, see MA*316703.

By 1894, when this device was made, the National Cash Register Company had developed an adding mechanism in which digits were indicated on the rim of rotating wheels. This is such a mechanism. The three wheels could rotate to show totals as high as $9.99. Four other wheels on the left side each have the digits from 0 to 9 around the edge. The mechanism is mounted on a white wooden display board.

A mechanism of this type was used in the NCR Model 79 cash register (see object MA*316701). NCR went on to develop a more compact mechanism that could represent eight totals, rather than just one, on a single shaft. See object MA*316704.

This 1913 National Cash Register Company cash register has an ornate brass exterior with a marble plate above the cash drawer. In addition to the wooden cash drawer and pop-up indicators at the top, the machine had two rows of keys. Keys in the top row are numbered 90, 70, 50, 35, 25, 15,and 5 (the rightmost key is missing a label). Keys in the bottom row are labeled $1, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 10 (the rightmost key is missing a label). Inside a locked compartment above the keys is a register that reads dollars and cents up to $9999.99, a four-digit customer counter, and a two-digit no sale counter. The machine has no mechanism to assist the clerk in adding up totals for individual sales and no paper tape to serve as a receipt. It has serial number 1265603.

By this time, aggressive sales tactics, numerous acquisitions, and frequent lawsuits had won NCR dominance in the cash register market. The firm also trained numerous young executives, including Thomas J. Watson. When the U.S. government found NCR in violation of antitrust law, several of these executives, including Watson, were fired. Watson was soon hired by the Computing Tabulating Machine Company of Endicott, New York, becoming the president of a firm that soon was known as IBM.

References:

Cortada, James. Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created. 1865-1956, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.

This cash register has a wooden frame covered with brass and a metal mechanism. It has four columns of keys for entering amounts, an operating button, five function keys, a paper tape, a cash drawer, and pop-up indicators.

Above the keys is a locked door. Lifting it reveals counters for numbers of customers and amounts spent. This is National Cash Register Company’s model 1054X-6, with serial number 1703570. It dates from 1919.

This large cash register has a wood and metal exterior painted black, and five columns of keys. The keys in the leftmost column indicate the type of transaction. Right of these keys are four columns of 9 keys, the leftmost for $90 down to $10, the next for $9 to $1, the next for 90 cents to 10 cents, and the last for 9 cents to 1 cent. Hence the machine can have purchases entered of up to $99.99. It is a National model 1852-E, made by National Cash Register Company of Dayton, Ohio. It has serial number 2925055 and dates from 1929.

The paper tape for dispensing receipts is on the left. Above the keys are indicators showing the type of transaction and the amount. A wide cash drawer is at the bottom of the machine. The machine is electrically operated, but there is a place for an operating crank on the right side.

According to the donor, the register was used at Mosely's Jewelry Store on U Street in Washington, D.C. It has an indentation from a 32-caliber bullet, produced in one of the many times the store was robbed. The base price for this machine new was $350.00 in 1927.

This machine has four wooden drawers arranged in a single column in a wooden case. The register, in a brown metal case, sits atop the drawers. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, black for cents, with a red five-cent key). Right of these is a column with keys marked A, B, D, E. Right of these is a lever now broken, a motor bar, and a section for the paper tape. The indicators are above the keys. The machine is electric. It has serial number 3672484 and model number 1544-(4D-1).

The machine was used at the Lansburgh Department Store in downtown Washington, D.C. When City Stores Company purchased Lansburgh, they gave the machine to the Smithsonian.

This machine has eight wooden cash drawers arranged in two columns of four. Atop them is the register, which has four columns of keys for numbers (red for dolars and tens of dollars, white for cents and tens of cents, and a red 5-cent key). A column of lettered keys has keys marked B, D, E, H, K, and M. The A, L, and N keys are missing and there is no place for C, F, G, or I keys.

Right of the letter keys is a column of keyholes, several of which have keys in them. A lever is set on the operation to be carried out and a motor bar controls the motor. A paper tape is on the left and indicator numbers are at the top.The machine has both an electric cord and a crank. It has serial number 3613685.

The machine was used at Lansburgh department store in downtown Washington, D.C. When City Stores Company purchased Lansburgh, they gave the machine to the Smithsonian.

This machine has eight cash drawers, arranged in two columns of four drawers each. The register, with its brown metal case, sits atop these. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, white for cents, and a red 5-cent key). Right of these are eight letter keys (A, B, D, E, H, K, L, and M) and a total key. Right of these is a lever which can be set at the desired operation, and a motor bar. The machine also has an operating handle. The paper tape is on the left and the glass-covered indicators are at the top.

The machine has serial number 390234. It also is marked: X 094(4) RS-8C.

This cash register was used at the Lansburgh department store in downtown Washington, D.C. When City Stores Company purchased Lansburgh, they gave the machine to the Smithsonian.

This machine has a metal case painted brown, and sits on top of eight cash drawers arranged in two columns of four drawers. It has four columns of plastic keys for registering dollars and cents ($10 to $90, $1 to $9, 10 cents to 90 cents, and 1cent to 9 cents). A column right of the number keys keys lettered A, B, D, E, H, K, L and M. A keyhole is right of each of the lettered keys. Right of these is a lever for setting the operation to be carried out and the motor bar.

Left of the keyboard are registers marked with the same letters as those in the column of lettered keys. Left of this is the space for the paper tape. The machine has serial number 390234. It also is marked: X 094(4) RS-8C.

This particular cash register was used at Lansburgh Department Store in downtown Washington, D.C. When City Stores Company purchased Lansburgh, they gave the machine to the Smithsonian.